Top 5 K-Pop (Korean Pop) Bands

K-pop stands for Korean pop and it is a musical genre and subculture originating in South Korea. Although within Korea, K-pop includes any genre of South Korean popular music, outside of the country the term is more commonly used for songs sung by K-Pop idols.

Since the past decade, the k-pop is visible the globe. And recently, thanks to the success of PSY’s single “Gangnam Style” the whole world is now aware of k-pop. Gangam style peaked at no.1 in many charts around the world, including Billboard 200. The horse style choreography of PSY coupled with his funny antics and hilarious scenes together with the insanely catchy song struck the hearts of millions across the globe.

K-pop is an amazing genre in itself, and all those who love music should definitely try out k-pop. To help all those music lovers wanting a taste of k-pop, here’s a list of few top artists along with their top songs.

1. Super Junior:

If there’s a king of k-pop, then it is undoubtedly Super Junior, loving called SuJu by their fans. They are also the “Kings of the Hallyu Wave”. It’s an all boy band group formed in 2005 comprising of 13 members which gained international fame after their hit release “Sorry, Sorry” in 2009. They are divided into smaller subgroups, each group releasing some songs independently. Super Junior has earned fourteen music awards from the Mnet Asian Music Awards, sixteen from the Golden Disk Awards, and also won the Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards. In 2012 they were nominated for “Best Asian Act” in MTV Europe Music Awards (source Wikipedia).

Their best songs include Bonamana, Mr. Simple and Sexy, Free & Single.

2. Girls’ Generation:

They are the queen of k-pop. Girls’ Generation or otherwise known as SNSD (Comprising of nine members), gained significant popularity with their hit single “Gee”, which is also regarded as South Korea’s “Song of the Decade”. They are also called as “The Nation’s Singers” and “The Nation’s Girl Group” in their country thanks to their popularity. They have also been listed as #1 on the Top Female Singer’s list for 4 consecutive years. Asia Today placed the group at forty-four on the 50 Korean Power Leaders list in 2011. Forbes also revealed the group was most powerful entertainers in South Korea for the year of 2011.

Their hit songs include Run Devil Run, The Boys, Genie and Mr. Taxi.

3. Shinee:

Shinee is a recent contemporary R&B boy group formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group includes Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin. Despite this they have already won many awards and held three concert tours. They are also considered as fashion icons having started the “Shinee Trend”. Plus their dances are highly synchronized and pretty complicated.

Their hits include Replay, Lucifer and Ring Ding Dong.

4. Big Bang:

Big Bang or BigBang is a boy group under the management of YG Entertainment. Formed in 2006, the group consists of G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri. Big Bang has a unique urban-originated music and even their fashion style is influenced by it. The members’ are actively involved in producing and creating their own music. They have received many awards, including “Best Male Group”, “Song of the Year”, “Artist of the Year”, and the Grand Award at the Seoul Music Awards.

They did their own worldwide tour last year, which ended in 2013. They are one of the most loveable groups of k-pop and one of the most popular too.

Their top tracks are Haru Haru, A Fool’s Tears and Gara Gara Go.

5. T-ara:

Again, T-ara is a popular girl band that debuted in 2009. Originally they consisted of five-members, but currently there are eight members. Roly-Poly charted as number one single of the year, which earned the group several awards and nominations. Another of their lead single, “Cry Cry”, became the group’s first number one on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100.

Their must listen songs include Lovey-Dovey, sexy love and Wae Ireoni.

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